It is estimated that a person dies every ten seconds from diabetes–related causes worldwide [4]. The World Health Organisation (WHO) projects that deaths from diabetes will double between 2005 and 2030 [1].

In Australia, diabetes was ranked as the sixth leading cause of death in 2009 (Graph 10), up from ninth in 2000. It was the underlying cause of death for 4,170 people (or 3.0% of all registered deaths), the highest number of deaths from diabetes in the past ten years. Diabetes contributed to almost 14,300 deaths in 2009 (10% of total deaths) as either an underlying or associated cause of death [27].